DETERMINING

MEANING OF A
WORD USING
CONTEXTUAL
CLUES

PM DR ANEALKA AZIZ HUSSIN

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
SHAH ALAM
LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the lesson, students should be able

to:

1. Describe different types of contextual clues.

2. Determine meaning of words using different

types of contextual clues.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

WHAT ARE CONTEXT CLUES?

– Words that readers can use to help them

guess meaning of unfamiliar words.

– These words are clues found in the

surrounding sentences of the unfamiliar
words.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

TYPES OF CONTEXT
CLUES
1. Definition or synonym clues
2. Contrast clues
3. Example clues
4. General sense of the sentence
5. Clue from another sentence

All these types of clues have certain signals to

help readers guess meaning of unfamiliar words.
Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin
DEFINITION / SYNONYM
CLUE
Definition or synonym of the unfamiliar words is given by the
author.
Hints:
1. Look for these phrases: the term, is defined as, means, is
known as, etc.
2. Some definitions can be found following a comma, colon, or
dash, or enclosed in parentheses ( ), brackets [ ] or dashes.
3. Some terms or definitions are printed in special print such as
bold print, italics, or color.
4. Some synonyms are introduced by words like or, in other
words, that is, is also known as, by this we mean, etc.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

2. CONTRAST CLUES
Words or phrases that carry the opposite meaning of the
unfamiliar words are provided by the author to assist
readers to guess the meaning.

Hints:
1. Look for words like but, however, on the other hand,
nevertheless, yet, in contrast, etc.

2. Look for opposite words for examples poor and rich,

thrift and extravagance, generous and stingy.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

3. EXAMPLE CLUES

Some authors provide examples to show

meaning of unfamiliar word.

Hints:
Words like for example, to illustrate, for
instance, and such as are used to illustrate
meaning of unfamiliar words.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

4. GENERAL SENSE OF
THE SENTENCE

Sometimes, readers have to rely on their prior

knowledge to help them determine meaning of the
unknown words.

No specific hints to guess the meaning.

Readers have to ask themselves the possible meaning

of the words and see if the meaning make sense in
the sentence.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

5. CLUES FROM
ANOTHER SENTENCE

Sometimes, readers have to read sentences before

and after the unfamiliar word to determine meaning
of this unknown word.

No specific hints to guess the meaning.

Readers have to ask themselves the possible meaning

of the words and see if the meaning make sense in
the sentence.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

 SUMMARY
There are a few ways that readers can use to
help determine meaning of unfamiliar
words in texts. However, you must always
test your definition because some contextual
clues can be misleading. If it makes sense,
you may have gotten the correct meaning.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

REFERENCES & LINKS

Elder, J. (2008). Exercise your college reading skills.

NY: McGraw-Hill.

Teoh, S.A., Chai, M.H., Azlina Abd. Rahman & Paul-

Evanson, C. (2010). Reading and critical thinking.
KL: McGraw-Hill.

Summers, D. (Ed.) (2009). Longman dictionary of

contemporary English (4th ed.). London: Pearson
Education.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

 Let’s Practice

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin